The present invention relates to warp knitting machines and, in particular, relates to a warp knitting machine which incorporates slider needles in addition to a fall plate member.
In the prior art, warp knitting machines conventionally utilized a track plate and associated guides to lay in a fall plate thread. These guides are affixed to a guide bar and move up and down simulating fall plate action. Typical of these is German Patent OLS No. 1,585,511. As the thread guides pass between the needles, the slider of the needle is fully opened, permitting the thread to enter the opening of the needle. The guides must swing alongside the needle, approximately at the level of the hook portion, in order to lay the appropriate thread into the hook opening. The thread is moved out of the opening by the downward movement of the thread guides so that the thread slides onto the needle shank. The thread as it is moved out of the needle opening becomes positioned under the cam on the slider, which is positioned near the tip thereof, so that the slider is in a position to move the thread in a downwardly direction as the slider moves in that direction. The position of this cam at the very top of the slider makes it more difficult to form a ground stitch, since the fall plate thread may remain stuck within the hook opening. Also, it is necessary to provide a further suspension means with steering to accomplish a fall plate-like movement of the thread guides.
Another machine, known in the prior art, wherein the guides perform a fall plate-like movement is Japanese Utility Model No. 39-19271. However, the disclosure in this patent uses compound or tubular needles which are not readily adaptable to include a cam mechanism.
A fall plate member has been used in combination with latch type needles; however, there are definite disadvantages in this approach. The use of a latch type needle requires that the needle bar be moved over a greater distance than that required for a slider needle. In addition, a fall plate, that is used in combination with the latch type needle, will be required to move a further distance in order to move the fall plate thread away from the needle opening to accomplish a fall plate thread lay in without forming a stitch with the fall plate thread.
The present invention overcomes the shortcomings found in the prior art by utilizing a fall plate member in combination with a slider needle. This permits the formation of the regular stitches in a conventional manner, since the guide members may operate as before and the needle height and the slider closure thereof remain as usual.